April 28, 2011

Penn State has kept itself in the playoff hunt this season with close win after close win. A loss versus Navy earlier this Spring made the Nittany Lions' trip to West Point do or die. And up until the second half, it looked like Penn State had a chance, but then Army's backs got loose and ran the Lions off the field in devastating fashion. Ben Leatigaga exploded for 4 tries in the second half, and Will Holder, stepping in at 10, converted them all for a 28 point second half.

Pretty entertaining match at Glendale's Infinity Park. Arizona was off to the races in the first half, but the Buffs hung in there and mounted a gritty comeback. Unfortunately for them, Peter Tiberio's USA 7s experience came in handy as he juked out 3 Colorado defenders to seal the match at the end.

Cal's youth ran onto Cal Poly's pitch Saturday trying to make a big impression in the last match before the CPD playoffs begin. Wing James McTurk scored a hat-trick and the Golden Bears ran a free rugby clinic in the first half. Cal Poly came back to score a few tries in the second half, but the match was already in hand.

This past weekend, at Charlotte Rugby Club's fields, the two best teams from this year's inaugural Atlantic Coast Rugby League met to decide a championship. UNC faced Maryland in a back and forth, entertaining match which the Terps were finally able to take control of in the final ten minutes.

Rutgers earned its first win in the CPD in a tightly contested match against the Golden Bears. Rutgers' pack won the day with its bruising style of play and overpowering scrummaging. Rutgers proved it can win in the East, an extremely competitive division.

The Middies were able to stay undefeated after close win over a determined Delaware squad. It was 17-14 Navy at halftime. However, the Middies were too much as Navy's pack scored a majority of the trys and looked to be in playoff form. Navy's win sets up a huge match against Army April 30, which will determine the #1 in the East. Also, don't miss JJ Stewart's 60 meter try and POTW candidate.

April 20, 2011

San Diego State has finally hit their stride with another strong win over Claremont. The Aztec's stars were in the action with Kelm and Purcell each touching down, but the best play of the day goes to #8 Derrick Broussard, who had a 80 meter must-see try. Definitely a POTW nominee.

Wyoming is having a tough season, and Colorado shows no mercy in this rout. Colorado's Scrumhalf, Kilfoyle, touched down three times and added four conversions for the Buffs. Wyoming's pack scored three powerful tries, but in today's game, speed beats power every time.

April 19, 2011

Air Force's eightman and captain, Brennan Gallagher, has been the truck that plenty of defenders have needed the license plate number for over the past few years. He has not gotten the pub a lot of other backrowers in the college game have, and that needs to change.

Rutgers came into Happy Valley a week after they pushed Dartmouth for all 80 minutes. Would this be the game that they finally got their CPD scalp? Alas, the Nittany Lions refused to be served up for that order and kept their playoff hopes alive with another tight win in soaked conditions. Next week has them traveling to West Point with their season on the line.

The footage (bad angle/no elevation) did not allow for us to post all the highlights that this match may have had. Our apologies.

The Utes held back a determined Air Force squad in order to to keep their playoff dreams alive. The match was physical and high scoring. Utah drew blood first and never lost the lead. However, the Zoomies never gave up and pushed the Utes to the 80th minute.

LSU spoiled Tennessee's last home match of the season with a convincing win over the Vols. It was still a game at halftime. but in the 2nd the Tigers ran away with it. After going 0-4, LSU is finally hitting its stride.

The Red Wolves dominated Notre Dame in every aspect of the game. Plenty of highlights and two POTW candidates make this match an exciting one. Arkansas State is a team no one should want to play come playoff time.

The wheels fell off for Dartmouth against Navy. A team can only play so many tight, tough games without winning before it implodes. Dartmouth looked strong early on taking a 10-5 lead into halftime, but Navy is just too good right now and proved it again by dominating the 2nd half. Navy and Army are on a collision course for a battle between the undefeated, and with one of college rugby's best rivalries, what could be better than that?

If we know one thing about Kutztown, it is that Coach Gregg "Doc" Jones has a strong heart. Having lost multiple matches by close margins and in every way possible, the Running Bears sprinted ahead of the Blue Hens in the first half. The match seemed in hand until Delaware unleashed a flurry of scores in the last 10 minutes including 3 minutes of injury time. Kutztown survived the comeback bid and Doc is still walking. With their season in the tank, the Bears can be happy about all the experience a season of tough losses has given their young team. Definitely a team to watch out for come next season.

April 18, 2011

Last week, the Gaels threw their best punch at the Bears and played 70 minutes of ferocious, high speed rugby. The Central Washington Wildcats, with a bye last week, were able to thoroughly prepare for the Gael's trip to Ellensburg and the showdown that would decide who would get the Pacific conference's second playoff spot. The match was as tight as they come and only some last minute heroics from Tim Maupin rescued the Gaels' season and prevented the big trap loss.

Army stormed into Columbus and unleashed a lightning fast attack that the Buckeyes could not keep pace with. Uiki Leatigaga, who was hurt in the beginning of the season, continues to give opponents all sorts of trouble out wide. Do not miss Army's eightman, David Geib, hurdle of a Buckeye defender while scoring a 40 meter try. Guaranteed POTW candidate.

The Zoomies raced ahead the Rams and didn't look back. The ever improving Air Force squad faces Utah in a highly anticipated match that has huge playoff implications. **We apologize to Colorado State. The cameraman missed your try, so therefore it did not make the reel.

April 13, 2011

Air Force/Colorado State, LSU/OU, SDSU/UC Davis, UCLA/Claremont, Wyoming/Arizona St., as well as some highlights of the BYU/AZ match. Not all of it was posted online so we can't promise full match highlights.

Finally, the Plays of the Week (POTW) will top it all off. If you feel strongly about any of the plays you've seen, let us know! We are thinking about expanding it to a top 5 and allowing people to vote on number 1 or just keeping it as a countdown subject to our preferences.

April 12, 2011

The Nittany Lions won a match they had to have against the Buckeyes in order to keep within striking distance of undefeated Army and Navy. Penn State seemingly had the match all wrapped up at halftime, but the men in blue and white (mostly white) let OSU come back within 5 points. Penn State's defense rose to the occasion and stopped Ohio State's final, desperate drive.

We had to put this snow match up despite the quality of the footage. Here's a glimpse of the conditions the Utes and Buffs battled in. A special thanks to the Utah cameraman for taking such punishment and sharing this fantastic match with us all!

When is a loss a win? Never. But Rutgers can take solace in the fact that they have finally arrived with this performance. There can be no more doubt that the Black Death belongs in the CPD. Rutgers, beaten senseless in the first half at the hands of the Big Green, regained composure and battled back. It was a 3 point game with just 15 minutes left. Dartmouth managed to use its experience in tough matches to escape New Jersey with a win. Beware Nittany Lions...

Did USA Rugby name a Barnburner of the Week? It appears they did not, but they can be given a pass since the choice was obvious. Outside of BYU and Cal there is no more explosive team than the St. Mary's Gaels. They've been stalking the Bears for several years now, looking for a big scalp and a place among the elite of the elite in college rugby. Two years ago they held Cal 20-5 at home, and the year before that a Kevin Swiryn led team gave Cal a semi-final scare in the playoffs. This past Sunday, the Gaels played fast and loose as they are want to do and threw everything they had at the Bears on offense. Their defense, however, was not there and the Bears could not be contained. The Gaels may have lost, but you can bet no one wants to face the small Moraga college come playoffs.

The Fighting Irish traveled all the way down to Marietta, Georgia to face a Life team still smarting from its big loss against the ASU Red Wolves. Sad day for Notre Dame, because Life was in no mood to allow them to make a game of it. Life's fullback, Joe Cowley, scored 25 points off 2 tries, 6 conversions, and 1 penalty kick.

April 11, 2011

The Middies held off a determined Kutztown squad to remain undefeated in the East. The Golden Bears have had a rough outing in the CPD. Every loss has had a margin of 6 points or less. Navy, on the other hand, is the class of the conference, and is headed toward a showdown with Army on April 30.

Expect Army/Delaware and Navy/Kutztown around 9pm e.t. tonight. The bulk of the highlights will follow tomorrow.

We got our first "like" from a high school player today. A Ryan Keeley-Cain from St. Joe's Prep which is in Philadelphia. (Hey Ryan!) Any doubt that he'll be at the College Rugby 7s event with jersey on and eyes glued to the stars he's been watching online? Keep spreading the word!

We have started work on highlights for the ridiculously entertaining weekend of CPD rugby that just occurred. Lucky us!

Because we have to make a decision on which games to do first, we have decided to try and do so in a manner that is fair. If you like us on facebook we like you right back. We have the most "likes" from Army on our facebook page, so their matches will get priority. Next is Navy, then BYU.

Spread the word everyone! Especially to high school teams/players/coaches. This is absolutely critical to the growth of American rugby. I once attended a college lacrosse game between Princeton and Johns Hopkins. What did I see? A mob of middle school and high school aged kids walking around with their lacrosse sticks and talking about their favorite players.

The CPD, and other leagues like the ACRL, need high school fans and it needs high school players to aspire to play in their leagues. We need kids to know who Blaine Scully, Cameron Dolan, and Will Holder are. We need kids to want to go to a match to see them live. (And pay money for admission/concessions/t-shirts) We need these kids to dream of wearing the PSU blue and white or the Fighting Irish green.

For the first time in American rugby history, anyone can see the highlights of matches just days after they occur. The CPD and college rugby in general are ripe for a huge influx of fans. We just have to go get them.

The Sun Devils continue their rise from D2 to the top tier of the College Premier Division with a comfortable victory over the Colorado State Rams. Eightman Travis Hughes touched down 3 times en route to his third Man of the Match nod of the season.

The Wildcats were without USA 7s star Peter Tiberio, and the Utes battled without Thretton Palamo. This game was a battle for second in the West. Utah led only 15-12 at halftime. However, the Utes poured it on in the second to improve to 2-1.

The Vols' backline was simply too good for the Oklahoma squad. There were many breaks for trys from both teams in this exciting match. However, Tennessee's experience proved to be crucial against the former Division II team.

April 05, 2011

Air Force was flying high in Glendale. The pack and backline worked well together to overpower a struggling Colorado squad, which has only one win in the CPD. Air Force improved to 2-1. Don't miss the clip of the Zoomies scrum steamrolling the Buffalo pack for a try!

St. Mary's College continued toward its showdown against Cal this weekend with another dominating win against Cal Poly. St. Mary's Tim Maupin ran incredibly hard and terrorized Cal Poly's defense to the tune of 3 tries. Cal Poly's pack took a measure of revenge in the second half by powering in three tries. However, they could not match the explosiveness of the St. Mary's team.

This match was much closer than what the final score says. The Big Green was up 13-12 at halftime, and was within a try of the Black Knights with less than four minutes to go. However, Army proved to be too much, and remains undefeated along with Navy in the East, which sets up a huge match with the Middies on April 30.

Kutztown hosted the Buckeyes in their second to last home match of the season. The Golden Bears have had a rough start in the inaugural CPD season going 0-2 vs PSU and Army, giving up big leads in the second half of both matches. Kutztown needed to prove it could play 80 minutes, and a young Ohio State team was just what the Doc Jones ordered. That and a CPD East Player of the Week performance from Tim Acker.

Battle of the unbeatens in the East Conference. A battle-hardened Nittany Lion squad marched into Annapolis having already bested East title contenders Dartmouth and Kutztown in narrow contests. However it was the previously untested Midshipman that won the day, repelling the invasion with a dominating performance from its back row.

More of the same from a stunningly good 2011 Cal team. The Golden Bears used a mixed roster that included 10 freshman and sophomores against the Bruins. The Bruins had no answers for any of the many many hard questions Cal asked of its offense and defense.

**We need your support! Give us a like if you "like" us. Spread the word if you "like LIKE" us.**

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About CRF

College Rugby Films is dedicated to the growth of college rugby. We believe strengthening college rugby is the best way to grow rugby in the U.S.

Every great competition needs a fan base, and we aim to build one by bringing the rugby community something that has never existed before.

For the first time ever, rugby fans can see highlights of college matches just days after they are played! Seeing is believing, and it is time for everyone from the youngest rugger to the grizzliest old boy to believe in college rugby.

Enjoy and please spread the word!

(If you are filming your matches and want their highlights posted or have any questions please contact us at: collegerugbyfilms@yahoo.com)